Yes, these clips look fabulous, but apparently I'm going to have to wait until May to see them on PBS. Such is life.

Yeah, me too. One would think BBC/PBS could see that (as with Doctor Who) there are enough USian fans of the show to justify broadcasting them kinda-close together. Of course, the difference between Sherlock and Doctor Who is that the latter is broadcast in America on BBCAmerica, so that might help them co-ordinate more effectively.

Meh. Ok so this wasn't about murder, but I'm still not really impressed. Far, far too much titillation, shaky premises all over the place and again the inconsistent powers of deduction, e.g. Over the pass code. Let me know what you think in May. Part 2 coming soon.

This doesn't deserve its own thread quite yet, so I'll just note that this has been given the go-ahead:

Elementary, from CBS TV Studios and studio-based Timberman/ Beverly Prods., is described as a modern take on the cases of the pipe-smoking private eye created by Arthur Conan Doyle, with Sherlock now living in New York City. Veteran Medium writer-producer Doherty wrote the script and is executive producing the project with Sarah Timberman & Carl Beverly. Sherlock Holmes is very much in the zeitgeist right now with Guy Ritchie’s movie franchise starring Robert Downey Jr. and BBC’s hit series Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch, which was just renewed for third season.

Actually, I think Sherlock was renewed for a third season at the same time it was renewed for a second season, but I could be wrong.

It's tempting to count the ways in which this is a Sherlock rip-off (Holmes in modern times? Check. Catchy one-word title? Check. I'm sure there will be more as the story develops) but for now I'll suspend judgment.

Just watched the last episode of series two and, in contrast to almost everyone, I remain not particularly impressed. It was ok, but I just find it annoys me. For example, anyone having read the Final Problem, and the next one, it was obvious what was going to happen in tonight's episode the Reinbach Falls (sp.). But it just got dragged out and out and out and then did nothing with it.

I'm sure most of you will enjoy it so please ignore Mr Grouchy over here. For some reason I just haven't wanted to like it this series.

This doesn't deserve its own thread quite yet, so I'll just note that this has been given the go-ahead:

Elementary, from CBS TV Studios and studio-based Timberman/ Beverly Prods., is described as a modern take on the cases of the pipe-smoking private eye created by Arthur Conan Doyle, with Sherlock now living in New York City. Veteran Medium writer-producer Doherty wrote the script and is executive producing the project with Sarah Timberman & Carl Beverly. Sherlock Holmes is very much in the zeitgeist right now with Guy Ritchie’s movie franchise starring Robert Downey Jr. and BBC’s hit series Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch, which was just renewed for third season.

Actually, I think Sherlock was renewed for a third season at the same time it was renewed for a second season, but I could be wrong.

It's tempting to count the ways in which this is a Sherlock rip-off (Holmes in modern times? Check. Catchy one-word title? Check. I'm sure there will be more as the story develops) but for now I'll suspend judgment.

Just watched the last episode of series two and, in contrast to almost everyone, I remain not particularly impressed. It was ok, but I just find it annoys me. For example, anyone having read the Final Problem, and the next one, it was obvious what was going to happen in tonight's episode the Reinbach Falls (sp.). But it just got dragged out and out and out and then did nothing with it.

I'm sure most of you will enjoy it so please ignore Mr Grouchy over here. For some reason I just haven't wanted to like it this series.

Matt

I'll probably agree with you, but you realize you just spoiled series 2 in a big way for the innocent US'ians who are waiting until PBS shows it in May? Not everyone pirates downloads, you know. Shockin'.

This doesn't deserve its own thread quite yet, so I'll just note that this has been given the go-ahead:

Elementary, from CBS TV Studios and studio-based Timberman/ Beverly Prods., is described as a modern take on the cases of the pipe-smoking private eye created by Arthur Conan Doyle, with Sherlock now living in New York City. Veteran Medium writer-producer Doherty wrote the script and is executive producing the project with Sarah Timberman & Carl Beverly. Sherlock Holmes is very much in the zeitgeist right now with Guy Ritchie’s movie franchise starring Robert Downey Jr. and BBC’s hit series Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch, which was just renewed for third season.

Actually, I think Sherlock was renewed for a third season at the same time it was renewed for a second season, but I could be wrong.

It's tempting to count the ways in which this is a Sherlock rip-off (Holmes in modern times? Check. Catchy one-word title? Check. I'm sure there will be more as the story develops) but for now I'll suspend judgment.

Just watched the last episode of series two and, in contrast to almost everyone, I remain not particularly impressed. It was ok, but I just find it annoys me. For example, anyone having read the Final Problem, and the next one, it was obvious what was going to happen in tonight's episode the Reinbach Falls (sp.). But it just got dragged out and out and out and then did nothing with it.

I'm sure most of you will enjoy it so please ignore Mr Grouchy over here. For some reason I just haven't wanted to like it this series.

Matt

I'll probably agree with you, but you realize you just spoiled series 2 in a big way for the innocent US'ians who are waiting until PBS shows it in May? Not everyone pirates downloads, you know. Shockin'.

Really? We've known since last year what three stories were getting adapted. Saying "Holmes and Moriarty are going to square off and there will be x kind of cliffhanger" is about as much of a spoiler as "it was a sled."

Just watched the last episode of series two and, in contrast to almost everyone, I remain not particularly impressed. It was ok, but I just find it annoys me. For example, anyone having read the Final Problem, and the next one, it was obvious what was going to happen in tonight's episode the Reinbach Falls (sp.). But it just got dragged out and out and out and then did nothing with it.

I'm sure most of you will enjoy it so please ignore Mr Grouchy over here. For some reason I just haven't wanted to like it this series.

Matt

I'll probably agree with you, but you realize you just spoiled series 2 in a big way for the innocent US'ians who are waiting until PBS shows it in May? Not everyone pirates downloads, you know. Shockin'.

Sorry, I'd tried not to do that by not mentioning what happens in the final problem. The last episode is named the Reichenbach Fall, so I didn't think I've revealed anything that you wouldn't get from the tv guide / titles sequence.

[quote name='NBooth' date='17 January 2012 - 09:07 PM' timestamp='1326845254' post='265484'] Sherlock Holmes is very much in the zeitgeist right now with Guy Ritchie’s movie franchise starring Robert Downey Jr. and BBC’s hit series Sherlock starring Benedict Cumberbatch, which was just renewed for third season.[/quote][/quote]

Speaking of zeitgeist - I do enjoy the show House most precisely at that level at which it is a Holmes adaptation. When it comes to thinking of Holmes in "contemporary" terms, I think the House writers frequently nail it with his character. I suppose the catch is that House indulges in far more melodrama than Doyle (even given Holmes' critique of Watson's "romanticizings"). I particularly like the way Houses' "method" is a real world expression of a barely concealed psychosis that otherwise manifests as a sort of hunger eating away at him when he doesn't have a case to deal with. The drugs, the off-kilter relationships, the way House intentionally uses social awkwardness and division to elicit information or ideas that would otherwise not exist - this is all pure Sherlock.

House is also a good example of what Booth described in his wonderful recent essay as really paying attention to things. The minutiae of a sick body a mere hop, skip, and jump from Sherlock's scope of observation.

House is also a good example of the paradox that appears immediately in Study in Scarlet about Sherlock's lack of knowledge about our solar system, to which he responds by explaining that the orbit of the earth is irrelevant to his field of knowledge. In an era so interested in paradigms, the shifting of paradigms, and enlightnment, Holmes (Doyle?) rejects the idea that paradigms can be meaningful channels through which we direct our attention to people. They are lenses that distort - even if true. I am not quite sure what is important to Holmes/House, but it isn't science qua science. This is all pretty subversive stuff.

I am rambling, but all this Sherlock talk coupled with Booth's essays has me musing.

I suppose even the most recent Holmes' continued use of London's homeless and indigent instead of a smartphone is a bit of a dig at social media.

Speaking of zeitgeist - I do enjoy the show House most precisely at that level at which it is a Holmes adaptation. When it comes to thinking of Holmes in "contemporary" terms, I think the House writers frequently nail it with his character. I suppose the catch is that House indulges in far more melodrama than Doyle (even given Holmes' critique of Watson's "romanticizings"). I particularly like the way Houses' "method" is a real world expression of a barely concealed psychosis that otherwise manifests as a sort of hunger eating away at him when he doesn't have a case to deal with. The drugs, the off-kilter relationships, the way House intentionally uses social awkwardness and division to elicit information or ideas that would otherwise not exist - this is all pure Sherlock.

It's been a very long time since I watched an episode of House, but I think you're on to something there. Oddly, I've had the suspicion for a while that portrayals/re-interpretations of Holmes have been getting steadily more dysfunctional as the years have passed. House certainly fits into that trend.

House is also a good example of what Booth described in his wonderful recent essay as really paying attention to things. The minutiae of a sick body a mere hop, skip, and jump from Sherlock's scope of observation.

Good point (and thanks for the kind words); Alexander Howe makes a similar point, although his focus is more on psychoanalysis than surgery. Ellery Queen makes the comparison, too, in Calamity Town.

House is also a good example of the paradox that appears immediately in Study in Scarlet about Sherlock's lack of knowledge about our solar system, to which he responds by explaining that the orbit of the earth is irrelevant to his field of knowledge. In an era so interested in paradigms, the shifting of paradigms, and enlightnment, Holmes (Doyle?) rejects the idea that paradigms can be meaningful channels through which we direct our attention to people. They are lenses that distort - even if true. I am not quite sure what is important to Holmes/House, but it isn't science qua science. This is all pretty subversive stuff.

I like your way of thinking.

FWIW, Masterpiece Theater just sent me an e-mail to remind me that Sherlock 2 starts on Sunday.

Belgravia--there are well documented problems with the characterization of Irene Adler, and I get those. All the same, I liked the episode quite a bit--even once I realized that it's essentially a remake of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes.

Baskervilles--not quite on the level of Belgravia, but it successfully avoids the second-episode slump that characterized the first series, so I can't complain too much.

In short, I'm in the embarrassing and boring position of loving the series exactly as much as most other people seem to. Which means I don't have any interesting or provocative objections to make to it....